Financing A Law Firm

The Law Firm Finance section of FindLaw's Law Firm Management Center provides free resources related to financial issues encountered by solo and small law firm practices. Business issues such as Finance Basics, Legal Funding, Loans and Credit Cards, How to Price Legal Services, and Closing Business are vital to the long-term success of your law firm. Finance is the engine that propels business. As a small business owner, you need to understand financial issues well enough to make informed decisions that impact your law practice. Browse, read, and share FindLaw's collection of articles, tips, and lists that focus on Law Firm Finance.

Learn More About Financing A Law Firm

Setting fees for legal services is obviously a major issue to consider, not only when establishing your practice, but throughout the life of your law firm. There are various ways to price your fees. Some methods require heavy calculations, while others simply require you to survey the market to help determine your fees.

Sufficient capital is essential for a successful business, as is having the understanding of how to manage it properly. To avoid missteps, there are several key considerations every business owner should reflect upon before seeking financing.

Figuring out how best to accept credit card payments from your clients can be a daunting (and intimidating) process. From deciphering all the techno-babble about complicated fee structures and minimums to choosing an account that gives you the maximum amount of control over your money - you'll be swimming in murky water at the best of times (and you've got to watch out for sharks).

This article illustrates how borrowing funds and converting non-deductible litigation expenses into tax deductible expenses has the cumulative dual benefits of creating a larger pool of funds for law firm investment in litigation costs, growth and partner distributions, and reducing the firm's net cost of using borrowed funds.

There are two kinds of people in the world, says finance expert Tom E. Greene: word people and number people. Most lawyers fall into the first group, which explains why they either panic or gloss over when faced with financial concepts in litigation.

The balance sheetis a statement of an organization's financial condition on a given date. It is a crucial tool for you and others to understand the value of your company and the state of its financial health.

Business owners often invest all their time and energy into starting a business but fail to consider how they will eventually exit the business. How you exit your business is just as important as how you start it. It requires thoughtful planning, and may take weeks to years, depending on the size of the organization, the reasons for exiting, and whether any disputes have arisen.

Attorneys work hard for months or years to achieve a favorable trial outcome. Clients and attorneys invest thousand of dollars in fees and costs. An appeal entails putting more time and money at risk. It subjects the judgment to reversal or remand. At best, it means another year or two until recovery. In the meantime, there are bills to pay, for client and attorney alike.

There are two primary types of accounting methods: accrual and cash accounting. Regardless of which method you choose, there are a few accounting and financial management problems common to both methods. Therefore, before you hang up your shingle, you should carefully consider and address these issues.

There are more than 27 million small business owners in the United States. At some point during the life of the business, many business owners will have to decide when the right time to step out of the business will be, and the best way to do it. There are many tools business owners can use to transfer their business. Selecting the right one will depend on the circumstances -- whether business owners plan to retire from the business or keep it until they die. If the business owner has partners, it can be one of the most important decisions a business owner will make.